Covert Operations: Xmen Evolution
by Soul Reaver
Summary: An A/U fanfic about soldiers from another dimension enter Bayville looking for creatures from their dimension which have invaded Bayville for sinister purposes yet unknown. Chapter Five up, the mission to rescue the mutants has been launched...
1. Conundrum

Conundrum  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own none of the X-men Evolution characters in this fanfic. This is part of an idea I've had in my head for a while, the tale of the Infinity Force.I was partially inspired by Universal Studio's Hanna Barbera attraction. Thanks to toddfan for clearing up the matter of Taryn's last name. I also based the Fleet Special Forces Teams off of our modern US Navy SEAL teams.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Background information:  
  
The Cartoon Universe is a varied place, as anyone can see. The Guardians, the top of the heap, based at Castle Infinity, a land located in the zone between the realities. The Null Zone, the void between the realities, is contested by two sides. The Evil One, one whose name is so horrible that only those among the Guardians know of it, hopes to take over the Null Zone and all the realities that exist. He draws all dark things to his influence.  
  
This war between the forces of good and evil extends into all realities. Most characters in most cartoons do not know of the existence of the Null Zone or that the vigilance of Infinity Force is what keeps the Evil One from wreaking havoc through all of the realities.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The UH-60 Black Hawk circled around Bayville, Task Force Romeo consisting of Infinity Force Rangers, Unit Gamma Operators, a four man detachment of FSF (Fleet Special Forces) Team Six and members of the 127th Special Flight Operations Unit (Unit Seven), the Nightstalkers, daredevil aviators that specialized in flying almost any craft in the known realities, had begun operating in the area, keeping watch over a suspected movement by the Evil One's forces in that sector.  
  
The Unit Gamma Operators and FSF Team Six were ready for their mission, infiltrate Bayville at every level they could, link up with Intelligence Agents and stay alert for any suspicious activity. They ranged in age from seventeen to forty. The youngest that one could become an Operator was seventeen, after four years of service in Infinity Force, about four years older than the minimum enlistment age.  
  
The Black Hawk put down silently in a field far from Bayville. A solitary youth, about nineteen years of age, Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Ted McDougal disembarked from the Black Hawk in civilian clothes carrying a green Jansport backpack and rolling a bicycle along the road.  
  
A black Ford pickup truck parked behind a billboard stopped to meet the youth. He tossed his bicycle into the back and jumped into the cab. With swift efficiency the operators were in place. The Rangers flew routine surveillance missions over Bayville, low key profile flights and conducting training in the surrounding woods. Their job was to be the quick reaction force if things got hairy in Bayville.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ted stepped inside a small, yet comfortable suburban home that had been rented by the Intelligence spooks for a month. He could see his other three team mates, Engineman Chief Butch "Butcher" Brown, a big stocky African American, Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class "Big Un" Cash, and Hospital Corpsman Nathan "Nate" Wenzl.  
  
He could see a U-Haul truck that Chief had driven over with furniture to make the house appear to be the suburban house it was as a cover for their mission. The agents were pointing out secret compartments for where to hide weapons and equipment. To the outside observer this would look like any normal family moving into a house. On the inside, the large cases of military equipment, ammunition, and technology made this house anything but.  
  
Butcher Brown was assigned to watch the Bayville Aquarium sector in case of any strange. Big Un, Ted and Wenzl were to be sent to Bayville High School as seniors and a freshman respectively.  
  
Standing at least six feet tall, muscled like a Greek statue, Big Un towered over most of the men on FSF Team Six. He was a serious body builder and a major gun enthusiast. Everyone in the Fleet Special Forces Teams worked out but Big Un made most of them look like pencil necks with his massive frame.  
  
"Well kiddies," Chief Brown joked, "Tomorrow's your first day of school. And for this mission's duration, call me dad."  
  
"Right 'dad'." Wenzl joked.  
  
"Very funny, if I didn't need your wiry little ass to fix up my guys when they get hurt I'd boot you out the nearest hatch leading off the ship. Which I will do to you clowns if you call me dad or pops or anything remotely similar when we get back to the ship." Chief replied, "Just a couple quick things, remember our rules of engagement, blend in as much as possible with the locals but don't get involved, especially not emotionally or romantically. Also avoid any contact, if possible, with Xavier Institute or Brotherhood kids, especially telepaths. Remember your training if you encounter a telepath, think of a long piece of poetry or especially long song with all the concentration you have. If you see anything suspicious remember that Sergeant First Class Horvath and Captain Miller are posing as teachers at Bayville High, let them know what you find."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ted pedaled his bicycle into the parking lot of Bayville High and locked it to a rack. He checked his watch and realized it was time for orientation. He adjusted the Oakleys over his head and walked into the gym. He held his camera bag slung over one shoulder and his backpack on his back.  
  
He sat down at the nearest seat he could find. "Sorry, this seat's saved." A slender, dark haired girl said.  
  
"Sorry about that." Ted replied, and slid over. Just then he saw another youth, this one with red tinted shades walk up to where he and the girl were sitting. He knew from the Bayville briefing him and the others infiltrators had received that this was Scott Summers and the girl was Taryn Nagioka, Summers' current girlfriend.  
  
He could see Big Un talking to the football coach. He was assigned to go and infiltrate the jocks of the school to see what he could learn from that angle. He was certainly the right man for the job.  
  
Right now it just felt great to wear civilian clothes again and pretend to be an ordinary high school student with nothing on his mind. That's what was great about these infiltration missions, as the Gamma operators said, living a brief snatch of a life that was fairly peaceful, almost carefree. To a certain extent you could even pretend to be a civilian again.  
  
Right about now that's all that Ted was enjoying. Presently, Principal Kelly finished his boring prattle and sent the students on their way.  
  
'Let's see, first period, art class.' Ted thought as he walked in. He saw Big Un off in the corner, he was already asleep before class had even started. During BUD/S training, Big Un was his swim buddy and Big Un got both of them a load of extra PT (physical training) from their instructors because he fell asleep during every single briefing.  
  
He also saw Taryn was sitting at the same table where Big Un was fast asleep. It was the only open seat in the class, so he took it.  
  
"Hey." Taryn said, "I remember you from orientation this morning? Are you new here?"  
  
"Yeah." Ted replied.  
  
"Where are you from?" Taryn asked.  
  
"Orlando, Florida." Ted replied.  
  
"Why did you move up here?" Taryn asked.  
  
Remembering his cover story, Ted replied, "My foster dad got a new job up here."  
  
He put his camera bag beside his backpack, "Are you into photography?" Taryn asked.  
  
"As a matter of fact, I am." Ted replied. This wasn't really a lie, by no means; Ted was FSF Six's unofficial photographer. He and Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Blythe took several pictures on the team and their snapshots were highly in demand. He also had a photo album in his belongings that had photos of guys that had asked for snapshots and then failed to return from their missions.  
  
"Are you coming to the cross country tryouts this afternoon?" Taryn asked.  
  
"I don't know, probably not." Ted replied.  
  
"Why not?" Taryn asked.  
  
"I've got stuff to do." Ted replied. Which he did, sort of, he had to go find Chief and give him an update, but that wasn't until 1800 military time (or 6 PM, time to start thinking like a civilian).  
  
The bell for the next class rang, and throughout the day Ted found himself contending with some thoughts. Taryn was just being nice, asking him if he wanted to come to cross country tryouts just so he'd have something to do. Sure, she was cute, and nice in the girl next door kind of way, but he remembered Chief's words to blend in but also to try and avoid contact with either the Xavier Institute or Brotherhood members.  
  
He mulled this as he sat in the shade of a tree overlooking the cafeteria, staring at a folded photograph in his bag that was about six years old. It was a picture of the nineteen guys that he had finished BUD/S with. Big Un was in it, of course, as was he, but he noticed, with sadness, that five of those faces were crossed out. Those five guys were all killed in action, five guys of Class 163 who were closer to him than brothers. This was one of the downsides of blending in among civilians in any dimension they crossed into. Especially for younger operators, such as Ted, this was a difficult burden to bear. None of these boys and girls, even the self proclaimed macho men, the jocks at Bayville High School had experienced the fear, the anger, and the adrenaline surge that accompanied combat. None of them had felt the cold menace of orcs hunting them through the darkness of the mountains. None of them had hidden, cold, wet, tired, hungry, and frightened with only their weapons and their teammates as anything even approximating comfort. They were so care free, so naïve, so vulnerable.  
  
"You alright, dude?" Big Un's familiar voice echoed.  
  
"Yeah, I was just thinking of those five guys from our class, including Lieutenant Bartlett." Ted replied.  
  
Big Un understood almost completely. Their class leader, the most senior officer in Class 163, had helped Ted through the most demanding training Infinity Force offered it's troops. "Stay focused man, I got a football meeting to go to." Big Un replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ "McDougal! Get your ass out of that pool, on the double!" a BUD/S instructor shouted.  
  
Ted McDougal's eyes, red and splotchy from the chlorine of the pool, regarded the instructor who shouted for him to get out. Lieutenant Junior Grade Bartlett followed.  
  
"Bartlett, get your ass back in!"  
  
"Instructor Falyn, I request permission to aid Seaman McDougal?" Bartlett shouted.  
  
"Alright, if you insist, he's yours, but if he doesn't pass the next pool evaluation, he's out."  
  
"Hooyah Instructor Falyn!" Bartlett replied, the traditional motivational yell of the BUD/S trainee.  
  
Bartlett had been like a big brother to the 97 young men that had classed up at the Fleet Special Forces Center. He always took care of his men, especially McDougal, one of the weaker swimmers in the class. Having been a lifeguard himself, the broad shouldered Englishman took it upon himself to work with the slender, dark haired sailor named McDougal who worked hard but struggled with swimming.  
  
Ted's memory flashed forward two years later, when he was with FSF Four in the jungles near the mines of Coranthia. They had been discovered by an orc patrol as they attempted to demolish a bridge.  
  
"Cortes, cover us!" Bartlett yelled to the squat machine gunner.  
  
"Leapfrog pattern, now!" Bartlett shouted.  
  
Signalman Cortes lay down suppressive fire with his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) with short accurate bursts. As soon as Ted, who was behind Bartlett and in front of Cortes passed him, he tapped him on the back. Ted dropped to one knee, firing short, controlled bursts from his M-16 rifle. They leapfrogged to a clearing where Bartlett was radioing a helicopter to retrieve the seven man team.  
  
Ted took up a position to Bartlett's right, beside Cortes who was squeezing off bursts down range. Bartlett was on the radio when a single round from an orc weapon tore through his throat. Ted looked down and saw his former class leader, now his platoon officer, gasping and dying, his body shaking.  
  
Ted figured his situational awareness had come to hell and gone because Taryn walked up to him and he didn't even know she was there until she said, "Hey."  
  
Ted just about jumped out of his skin. "Hello." He replied, weakly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Taryn asked.  
  
"I'm okay, I was just doing some deep thinking." Ted replied.  
  
"About what?" Taryn asked.  
  
"Just some personal stuff." Ted replied.  
  
Taryn knew better than to ask, "Hey, if you wanna talk about it, just find me."  
  
"Thanks." Ted replied. Part of him wanted to tell Taryn what exactly was bothering him, but he knew his work well enough not to share with the people of any reality that they were not alone in this world.  
  
The offer to reveal who he really was, and what exactly he did was fairly tempting though. 


	2. Later

Later  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ted walked out to his bicycle after school still mulling the invitation. He was about to go bike those six miles back home when he made a decision. "Ah, what the hell, I've still got a whole three hours before I gotta go make my reports. Tryouts should be no biggie anyway."  
  
He relocked his bicycle, walked over to the locker room, threw on his gym gear and walked out to the track. There were quite a few kids there, mostly freshmen and sophomores, but there were a few juniors and seniors among the bunch. Taryn saw him then smiled and waved. Ted returned the gesture and sidled up to her. He could just see Big Un giving him a jaunty wave and that big sloppy grin he was known for.  
  
He could see Nate Wenzl out there too. He was just running in to join. "Hey, you made it." Taryn beamed.  
  
Ted smiled back, feeling a little awkward despite his self assured and casual manner, "Well, I figured I'd try it." Ted replied as coach started them on their stretching routine.  
  
He could see Nate smiling broadly at him, Ted shot him a brief look that spoke of death and daggers and resumed the conversation. They started on a short interval jog, Ted easily matched pace with Taryn, and they continued to talk.  
  
"Did you hear about that threat we got last period?" Taryn asked.  
  
"No. What threat are you talking about?" Ted replied.  
  
"Some kids threatened to blow up the school tomorrow. It was two freshmen that got expelled." Taryn said.  
  
Ted immediately felt uneasy and as soon as practice was over he dialed up a number on his cell phone and said, "We've got termites on the premises."  
  
He made that call to Chief who was sitting in his custodian's office in the Bayville Aquarium. He immediately called for a Navy EOD unit attached to the Rangers consisting of two techs and their equipment.  
  
Feeling that he had done everything he could do, Ted pedaled back towards 'home' at a leisurely rate. He thought about a few things, Taryn was among them. Okay, she was attractive, kind, a little bit of a flirt, but all in all she was a nice girl. Where the hell did that thought come from. Rule number one of infiltration was minimizing contact.  
  
Big Un was driving the truck and Nate was riding with him so Ted was pretty much alone as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon.  
  
As he reached the peak of the hill that lead into his neighborhood Ted decided on a very simple fact. Taryn was a nice girl, someone that if circumstances were different he'd be more than willing to take to the movies or out for some ice cream. When he got back he saw a big white van in the driveway with two Explosive Ordinance Disposal techs carrying a large refrigerator box between them. He knew them as "Silent Bob" Schwartz, a big tubby bearded fellow, and Jay Marques, a skinny blond haired kid.  
  
Chief wasn't back from work yet, so Big Un threw some TV dinners into the microwave and nuked them. As Ted walked in Nate elbowed him in the side, "Getting frisky with the ladies, eh?"  
  
"What?" Ted asked.  
  
"Taryn," Nate replied, "That girl on the cross country team with us."  
  
"What, are you crazy? I just met her today, anyway she's just a friend I made the first day, might just be able to help us garner some information." Ted replied.  
  
"Ted will you shut up about the mission for God's sake, I know what we have to do, so do the rest of us, so let's make like we enjoy this little taste of life." Big Un replied.  
  
"You know, he does have a point there." Nate replied.  
  
"Yeah, we still train enough to keep our edge, let's just chill and enjoy the perks of this assignment." Big Un replied, "So what's the deal, you think she's cute?"  
  
"Well yeah, but." Ted replied.  
  
"But nothing, go for her man, for all you know when we go on our next deployment or patrol you could be killed." Big Un replied as they went out to help Jay and Silent Bob move their equipment.  
  
"What in the hell is in this box, barbells?" Nate asked.  
  
"No, it's our hazmat handler, latest and greatest for EOD techs, you see we drive the van up to the school and remote control this robot to search for explosives." Jay said.  
  
"That's great but how are you gonna put a low profile on a big shipboard robot." Chief said, walking in the door.  
  
"Don't worry about it Chief we've got it all covered." Silent Bob said.  
  
A few minutes later the robot was covered with black fur, a rubber gorilla mask, a tiny bow tie, and a Barnum and Bailey's vest. Chief stared at the thing incredulously, "A gorilla costume? How in the hell do you expect to be low key with a gorilla costume?"  
  
Ted, Big Un, and Nate were all doubled over laughing. "Relax Chief its all part of the pep rally tomorrow. It's a little beginning of the year spirit booster Principal Kelly made up, we'll pretend it's a mascot." Silent Bob replied.  
  
"Okay Ted, its your turn to go up for the profile flight, you know the drill, head out to the empty lot and the Black Hawk should be by to pick you up." Chief said.  
  
"Right 'dad'." Ted replied, going for one of the M-16s in one of the hard plastic cases as well as a set of NODs (Night Observation Devices) and a magazine pouch. Big Un went into the garage with Ted and they got into the truck and drove for the pick up site.  
  
Ted was aboard one of the UH-60 Black Hawks with a chalk of about twelve soldiers from Company F, 175th Ranger Regiment as it flew over Bayville scanning for signs of any enemy activity. He was the only one wearing civilian clothes with incongruous military equipment and a rifle on his person, all the other soldiers wore woodland patterned fatigues, Kevlar vests, and helmets. Mission or not, every day the helicopters would fly out over the city and scan for signs of enemy activity with the Rangers doing patrols. He could see an MH-6 Little Bird with a four man team of Gamma assaulters flying behind the Black Hawk. In the streets more Gamma operators in civilian clothing and with civilian vehicles did several scans of the area as well as shadowing important personalities of this particular dimension.  
  
The Little Bird touched down on the roof of a house with two more of them landing in the front and back lawn. Twelve Gamma operators quickly jumped from the birds and started their takedown. The Rangers had already rappelled four chalks from four other Black Hawks into the area around the property's perimeter. He could see shots being fired, flash bang grenades (weapons that produced a harmless flash and smoke that stunned anyone exposed), and the Gamma operators rapping up their take down, they had killed five orcs occupying the house, captured another three, and were carrying numerous confiscated weapons. The helicopters spirited away quite a few of them back to the Checkpoint Alpha, the outpost that the Rangers had made out in the isolated countryside, away from prying eyes.  
  
Ted had a healthy respect for these Gamma operators in spite of the fact that Fleet Special Forces men had building and ship takedowns in their bag of tricks. These Gamma guys practiced for this sort of close quarter, counterterrorist operations in urban terrain constantly and actually the initial cadre of FSF Six, the Fleet Special Forces team that specialized in counterterrorism, was Unit Gamma operators.  
  
It came time for Ted to be dropped off where Big Un waited with the pickup truck and he dismounted the chopper and got onto the truck. In the woods Big Un saw a shadow. Ted pulled the NOD over his eyes and could see a lone orc running from the landing site at full speed. Ted picked up his M-16, gave the running creature a short lead and squeezed off a three round burst. He saw two Rangers come running and led them to where the orc was spurting jets of black blood onto the forest floor. The Rangers policed the corpse as Ted walked back to the vehicle. Big Un drove the truck up to the corpse and checked it for weapons, he handed Ted a badge from the orc's armor.  
  
"You might wanna keep this buddy." Big Un said.  
  
"Why?" Ted asked.  
  
"Dude, you just knocked out one of us on their side." Big Un replied.  
  
"You mean one of those Black Hand Commando bastards." Ted replied, referring to the orcs' answer to human Special Forces units.  
  
"The one and only." Big Un replied. Ted looked stunned; this was one hell of a night.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The next day dawned and Ted, Big Un, and Nate made their way to school with Jay and Silent Bob's van following behind them. Chief was driving the van, calling in sick at his cover job.  
  
Jay and Silent Bob were in the back of the van with a keyboard and a couple of joysticks connected to two large television screens that were connected by a data link to cameras mounted in the gorilla's eyes.  
  
Big Un, Ted and Nate fanned out around the school. Ted ran into Taryn between periods and they witnessed Principal Kelly walking up to the gorilla. "You there, what class are you supposed to be in? The pep rally's not till this afternoon, why are you wearing your costume now?" he asked.  
  
Back in the van, Jay and Silent Bob could hear Principal Kelly's question. "Quick, what do I do!?" Jay shouted, holding the joystick.  
  
"Do the monkey dance, it worked with the other teacher earlier." Silent Bob replied.  
  
Principal Kelly watched as the gorilla suited performer danced around, hopping from one foot to the other, scratching itself under its armpit, and doing a midair pirouette. "You'll have to do better than that. Who's your home room teacher? What booth are you working for?" Principal Kelly asked.  
  
"Oh no! Oh no! He's onto us, what do we do? What do we do!?" Silent Bob shouted.  
  
"Try saying something." Jay said, "Thank God we jury rigged a few choice discreet phrases into his bowtie." Silent Bob punched a key on the computer. The gorilla costumed kid belted out a phrase to Principal Kelly.  
  
"Lick my gonads!" the gorilla shouted. About a dozen students stopped in their tracks as the gorilla belted out that phrase.  
  
"What did you say young man?" Principal Kelly said, turning pale white.  
  
"I'm no expert but since when does lick my gonads equal a discreet phrase?" Chief asked.  
  
"Uh, I don't know?" Silent Bob replied.  
  
"Quick, say something else!" Jay shouted, flapping his arms.  
  
"Okay, how about this." Silent Bob replied.  
  
The gorilla started to dance disco style as it started to sing, "In the Navy."  
  
"Who do you think you are, young man?" Principal Kelly asked.  
  
"Hurry, answer him, that didn't amuse him!" Jay shouted.  
  
"Ta na na na na na na na na..Batman!!!!" the gorilla shouted.  
  
"That didn't work." Jay shouted as Principal Kelly started to berate what he thought was a student in an unauthorized gorilla costume.  
  
"It's bad enough that we need to be disciplinarians, now we need to be psychiatrists too." Principal Kelly shouted.  
  
"Hold still, I want to hump on your leg." The gorilla belted.  
  
"You moron, did you just sit your fat ass on the control?" Jay asked.  
  
"No.I mean yes." Silent Bob replied.  
  
"Gimme that!" Jay shouted, reaching under Silent Bob's thigh and grabbing the voice box control, accidentally triggering the switch.  
  
"What was that?" Principal Kelly asked.  
  
"Don't blame me, you farted." the gorilla replied.  
  
Silent Bob grabbed the control back and accidentally triggered the switch.  
  
"In my office right now. I will not tolerate vulgarity from my students." Principal Kelly shouted.  
  
To this the gorilla replied, "Excuse me while I lick my doodads."  
  
"That's it young man, who are you? Maximoff? Dukes? Alvers? Matthews?" Principal Kelly demanded, his pasty white complexion turning bright red, his eyes bugging out behind his plastic frame glasses. He reached for the masked student's disguise, fully aware that several students and even a few faculty members were standing around either shocked or laughing at him.  
  
"Oh no! He's reaching for the mask! Quick, what do I do?!" Jay asked.  
  
"Punch him!" Silent Bob shouted.  
  
"I hope you don't hurt him too bad," Chief said from his seat.  
  
"Don't worry, we're gonna hit him in the stomach. These robots are known for being extremely precise, we could pick up a leaf in the cracks of the sidewalk without breaking it." Silent Bob replied, "Ready, now!"  
  
The gorilla tagged Principal Kelly with a perfect right cross. Unfortunately it didn't hit him in the stomach. It nailed him in a very sensitive spot right between the thighs.  
  
"Ow, brutal." Jay replied.  
  
"Uh, Jay, that wasn't his stomach." Silent Bob replied as Principal Kelly hunched over, wincing in pain.  
  
"Punch him again, he's gonna call the cops!" Jay replied.  
  
"Okay, watch a pro!" Silent Bob replied, the gorilla belted Kelly upside the head with a solid left hook. Principal Kelly hit the deck like a pole axed mule.  
  
"Run!" Jay shouted as they made the gorilla perform a series of leaps, bounds, and swings away from the campus, "Lets look for the bomb later on, when the heat dies down."  
  
Taryn and Ted had both witnessed the entire scene, what it looked like was some kid in a gorilla costume sassing and punching out the principal. Ted knew that the remote controlled robot gorilla was controlled by two EOD techs that had half a brain between them, but he acted as surprised and amused as some of the kids were. He laughed lightly.  
  
"That is not funny. Principal Kelly could've been hurt." Taryn said.  
  
"Oh, c'mon, you gotta admit that was at least halfway funny." Ted replied.  
  
"Okay, it was a little funny." Taryn replied, trying desperately not to smile.  
  
"I mean admit it, when the kid belts out to Kelly to lick his gonads that was at least worth a full smile." Ted replied, teasingly.  
  
Taryn smiled, giggling at the previous incident where a kid in a gorilla costume had mouthed off to the principal and knocked him out for good measure.  
  
Meanwhile in the van Chief said, "Time for plan B, blend into the student population."  
  
"Right Chief, we won't screw this up, we promise." Silent Bob said as he and Jay, clad in civilian clothes, jumped from the van.  
  
"Why does that not reassure me." Chief replied. 


	3. Bomb Squad

Bomb Squad  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: Some more crude slapstick humor before we go on with the more serious stuff. And I don't own the X-men Evolution franchise. Jay and Silent Bob were largely inspired from the two characters of the same name in Mallrats. My favorite scene from Mallrats inspired part of this chapter as well.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Where are those two slackers I found hanging around the girl's bathroom?" Principal Kelly asked himself after he had regained consciousness. He awoke to find Kitty Pryde complaining about two students, a chubby bearded fellow and a longish haired skinny boy hanging around the girl's bathroom a little over an hour ago.  
  
Silent Bob and Jay were crouched inside the janitor's closet. Suddenly Jay started waving his hands in front of his face. The air was starting to get foul inside the small, poorly ventilated space. Opening the door for fresh air was out of the question because Principal Kelly was standing right outside.  
  
What got them into this mess was the sighting of a suspicious blue creature running away, using the water fountain beside the girl's bathroom as cover. They thought it might be connected to the bomb threat Ted had been talking about.  
  
All Jay was hoping for was that Principal Kelly decided to get the heck out of there in a hurry because the closet was really starting to smell like rotten fish and overripe meat and a trace of the previous day's lunch. Suddenly the closet door fell open and Jay gasped several breaths of clean air that was not redolent of methane.  
  
He yelled to Silent Bob, "Man, what did you have for breakfast?"  
  
"Oh and yours smell like roses." Silent Bob replied,  
  
"Guys what the hell are you doing in the janitor's closet?" a familiar voice that wasn't Principal Kelly asked. It was Nate Wenzl.  
  
"Would you believe finding a bomb?" Jay asked.  
  
"Oh God that gorilla thing didn't find it, and now it's Plan B." Nate said, "You guys are about as good at infiltration as pigs are at flying."  
  
"Huh?" Silent Bob asked.  
  
"Oh never mind, just find that stupid bomb, do your stuff and get the heck out of Dodge." Nate replied.  
  
  
  
Much later, Jay and Silent Bob were hunting up and down the school, looking for anything that looked even vaguely suspicious. "Hey Jay, check this out." Silent Bob said as he rifled through a backpack near a locker.  
  
"Did you find the bomb?" Jay asked.  
  
"Nah, I found something really disturbing." Silent Bob said, holding up a spiral bound notebook, "Hmm, fairly disturbing sketches of some guy named Duncan, some guy named Scott, and some thirty-some dude named Logan.Gross.And some certain private thoughts. Oww someone's time of the month has come along.she's thinking seriously of doing some pretty hideous things to some chick named Taryn at this school."  
  
"Like what?" said a voice that wasn't Jay's. Silent Bob whirled around to see a silver haired blur go by him. The kid moved almost inhumanly fast, zipping to the other side of Silent Bob's ponderously bulky form when he turned around.  
  
"Uh some real nasty shit, evisceration, hanging, pulling out her finger nails, that sort of thing." Silent Bob replied.  
  
"Oh this is priceless, can I have it dude?" Pietro Maximoff said, being uncharacteristically friendly.  
  
"Uh, sure dude, take it." Silent Bob replied, tossing the notebook to Pietro who proceeded to vanish at high speed.  
  
"What are you two doing going through my bag?!" an angry voice belonging to none other than Jean Gray shouted.  
  
"Run for it!" Jay shouted. He and Silent Bob proceeded to run as fast as their legs could carry them.  
  
Silent Bob was suffering the inherent huffing and puffing common to the overweight when they attempt to run very far. "C'mon fat ass get the lead out!" Jay shouted, "She's gaining on us."  
  
"I'm (gasp) running (gasp) as (gasp) fast (gasp) as (gasp) I (gasp) can." Silent Bob huffed.  
  
At that moment Scott Summers came out of the boy's bathroom. "Gangway! Mad redhead on the loose! HELLLPPP!!!" Jay shouted.  
  
"Jean?" Scott asked quizzically when he saw two guys he had never seen before, a chubby bearded guy and a skinny blond haired kid with longish hair. He didn't have time to ask Jean whatever he intended to ask because both of those two collided with him at high speed, and trampled over him. The fat kid's foot landing square on his stomach, narrowly missing landing on a very important area that would have rendered him sterile if his foot landed upon it.  
  
"Scott?" Jean asked, "Are you okay, those two maniacs took my notebook."  
  
Scott groaned, clutching his abdomen where one of the maniacs that weighed over two hundred pounds had landed.  
  
"Are you all right?" Jean asked, calming down, and temporarily forgetting about her stolen notebook. Thankfully she didn't know that Pietro Maximoff and the Brotherhood had gotten their hands on the notebook and its contents.  
  
Jean tenderly helped Scott to his feet and brushed the dust off his sweater. Their arms were around each other for a few seconds longer than necessary to get Scott to his feet and Taryn happened to have seen this little scene and from what it looked like Jean and Scott were sharing a tender moment. She turned and ran.  
  
"Taryn, wait!" Scott said coming after her.  
  
"Scott, what was the big idea of stringing me along like that? Was I nothing more to you than someone to hang around with until Jean made up her mind about whether or not she wanted Duncan or you?" Taryn said, turning on Scott.  
  
"Taryn, I can explain." Scott replied.  
  
"No need to explain. Just get out of my life Scott Summers!" Taryn yelled back, tears streaming into her eyes. She stormed off, as Scott stood dumbfounded.  
  
Meanwhile Jay and Silent Bob were trying to find where exactly the explosive device to blow the school up was hidden. They saw a suspicious character leave Principal Kelly's office, a guy wearing a hooded sweater and baggy jeans. The guy's hood was up, shadowing his face, but the grayish green hue of the skin of his nose was enough of a clue that they were facing an orc.  
  
"Let's get in that office and get rid of that bomb." Jay said.  
  
As the pair was about to get into the office a mean looking old butch of a lady stood directly in their path. "And what are you two gentlemen doing? Do you want to see Principal Kelly? He's on his lunch break right now."  
  
"Uh, yeah, we do." Silent Bob said lamely, seeing Jay trying to sneak into the office out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Unfortunately the wide framed and mean looking office secretary saw Jay out of the corner of her eyes and fixed him with a glare that was strong enough to punch a hole through the hull of a tank. Jay and Silent Bob were frog marched out of the office, "If I ever catch you goons trying to break into Principal Kelly's office again you're going to be in detention so long that you won't be seeing the light of day."  
  
The mean looking office secretary, Edna, gave the pair a mean look and continued, "And I'll be standing outside this door just to make sure you don't get inside."  
  
"We'll see about that." Jay grumbled.  
  
A short time later Jay was filling one of his socks full of quarters. "Now here's the plan for operation Drive By, you run up behind old prune face with this sock full of quarters and whack her upside the head. I'd do it but I've gotta get into Principal Kelly's office and defuse that bomb." Jay said.  
  
"Right." Silent Bob said, whirling the sock full of quarters and running towards Edna at full speed.  
  
Unfortunately a certain X-man, Evan Daniels, had one of his many skateboard accidents, courtesy of Pietro Maximoff. He was skating down the halls at full speed unaware that there was a length of rope about to be strung into his path. He was aware of the stretched taut rope too late as a silver blur swept across the hallway and he collided with the rope. Evan fell off his skateboard but the skateboard itself was in motion.  
  
The skateboard skidded along the ground right in Silent Bob's path and his foot landed atop the skateboard. Out of control Silent Bob's flailed his arms attempting to knock out Edna. Unfortunately he missed almost completely, landing the sock full of quarters into her arms and crashing through the drywall into the girl's bathroom.  
  
"You pervert!!!" Jean Gray shouted and started hitting Silent Bob.  
  
A little later Silent Bob came back up the stairs to where Jay was sitting, "Any more bright ideas bonehead?"  
  
"Yeah. This is Operation Dark Knight. Now remember your helmet, make sure the cable is in place and get ready, get set, and go."Jay shouted  
  
Silent Bob stood atop a balcony with a rope around his waist. He was wearing goggles and a crash helmet shaped like Batman's cowl. He spread his black leather trench coat like a cape, striking a dramatic pose, and swung forward, arms out ready to knock out crabby old Edna.  
  
Edna ducked to pick up a quarter she saw on the ground just as Silent Bob would have landed the knockout blow. Silent Bob overshot and crashed headfirst through the wall of the girl's bathroom a second time. "You sicko!" Kitty shouted and punched him in the face, sending him back out the wall and swinging backward. This time he knocked Edna out cold. Unfortunately Silent Bob was out cold as well and swinging back and forth in a Batman costume from the ceiling of the school.  
  
"Time to go to work." Jay said after cutting down Silent Bob. They went into Principal Kelly's office and found a large package sitting under his desk.  
  
They looked over the bomb and finally found the triggering device. Jay took the blasting cap from the explosive, fortunately it was only a large C4 demolition charge with a simple trigger, child's play for an EOD tech. As clumsy as they were with everything else, Jay and Silent Bob were wizards at getting rid of explosives.  
  
The tiny fist sized trigger started beeping. It was only a small initiating charge but it would make a big enough boom to remove Silent Bob's meaty hand. "Oh shit." they moaned simultaneously and ran, Silent Bob tossing the explosive to Jay.  
  
"I don't want it!" Jay shouted, "You take it!"  
  
"No you!" Silent Bob shouted.  
  
"No you!" Jay replied.  
  
They ran into the boy's bathroom past an extremely surprised Kurt Wagner and threw the trigger in the toilet and flushed it down. They walked out into the parking lot and out of the school just as the trigger exploded underground in the septic tank throwing a plume of sewage, waste water, and dirt into the air that landed on Principal Kelly.  
  
"I hate my life." Principal Kelly groaned. 


	4. Disappearance

Disappearance  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before. Warning, a little Jean/Scott thing to follow.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Colonel Hartford, commander of the Gamma Squadron had requested some reinforcements in the Bayville High School sector after the bombing attack. He requisitioned another operator, Sergeant Marvin "Marv" D'Arco who was working the mall sector.  
  
A Black Hawk came flying over the horizon, on yet another of the daily profile flights over Bayville. Marv D'Arco was aboard the chopper when he heard his change in orders, detaching him to operate in the Bayville High School sector the next day. He had more pressing business, however.  
  
"There." D'Arco gestured, taking one hand off his telescope sighted CAR- 15, "Technicals at nine o'clock."  
  
Technicals were vehicles modified by the orcs and the Dark men (called Darklings, humans that had thrown in their lot with the orcs) that mounted .50 caliber machine guns, recoilless rifles or other heavy weaponry. The Darklings hid their weapons under tarps in the back of their pickups. The Black Hawk flew parallel to the enemy vehicles along the freeway as they appeared from the Null Zone into the Bayville reality.  
  
Staff Sergeant Eddie Kurth, a Ranger aboard the helicopter said, "Chief, Darkling battle party on the freeway."  
  
"I got it Eddie." Chief Warrant Officer Mike Fulton, the pilot of Black Hawk Super Seven Five replied, "I don't think we can touch this."  
  
"Super Seven Five to command, we've got technicals on the freeway, heading into Bayville." Fulton said over the radio.  
  
"Super Seven Five," Colonel McCron, the air commander, asked, "Are you taking fire?"  
  
Fulton looked back and saw the crew chief closest to the technicals, the two Rangers closest to that door, and the Gamma operator aboard all readying their weapons to engage the target. "Negative command." Fulton replied.  
  
"Do not engage, Seven Five. Return to base." McCron replied.  
  
"Roger that." Fulton replied as he steered his helicopter back over the horizon returned to base.  
  
Elsewhere Taryn didn't know where to turn next. Scott deserved so much more than an ambivalent redhead who would string him along and pay all the attention in the world to him one minute and act as if he didn't exist the other minute. What was the worse was that Scott played right into it. She had him wrapped around her little finger at least a dozen times with the slightest bit of attention. She had pushed Scott out of her life, yes, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt to do it.  
  
She ran into Ted as they were stretching for cross-country practice. Ted didn't quite understand why he felt concerned for Taryn when he could practically feel her despondent mood. Maybe it was because she reminded him of someone special from a couple years back. He had seen her quite a bit these past few days and the more he saw of her the more he was reminded of someone very special from the past.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ted asked, as they started their warm up lap.  
  
Taryn debated for a moment but decided to tell him, "It's Scott. I think him and Jean."  
  
"Hey," Ted replied, "It's all right. I know this isn't exactly comforting but things will work out, just give them some time."  
  
He stopped in mid sentence when he saw a Black Hawk fly right alongside the school, one of the soldiers in it waved cheerily from the cabin. It was an old friend of his, Marv D'Arco.  
  
"Some time for what?" Taryn asked.  
  
"Some time for everyone to figure things out. All everyone needs is a little time." Ted replied. He had been pretty happy throughout the deployment, knowing an old buddy of his was around.  
  
Taryn mulled that thought over; people do need a little time to figure things out. Ted was right, she decided before she noticed Ted was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Ted McDougal checked the tiny earpiece device that was hidden in one of his shoes, "What is it Chief?"  
  
"Jay and Silent Bob are going to need some help at the mall on Saturday. I picked your name out of the hat for this job." Chief replied.  
  
"Gotcha Chief." Ted replied.  
  
A few moments later Taryn felt Ted running beside her again. "Hey, Ted, I'm going to the mall on Saturday, if you want to come meet me in front of Dillards at 10 o'clock, O.K."  
  
Ted smiled, despite himself. "Sure, I'll be there."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
As he sat on the cot at the Desert Dune Airfield's hanger near the Null Zone desert town of Ibn Djarra, where the Task Force had relocated, Ted McDougal talked to Marv D'Arco who was sitting on his own cot, cleaning his CAR-15.  
  
"So, she asked you to go to the mall with her?" D'Arco asked.  
  
"Yeah, she did." Ted replied, both men wore desert camouflage trousers and sand brown t-shirts.  
  
"Go for it, enjoy the fling while it lasts." D'Arco advised.  
  
"Then what, when the deployment ends and the mission's over, say, 'Taryn, sorry it isn't you it's me'? That I'm part of some elite special forces unit from another dimension? That's gonna blow over real well." Ted replied.  
  
"Oh for God's sake Ted." D'Arco replied, "It's not like that same case with."  
  
Just the nearest oblique mention of her name was enough to take Ted's face and contort it with a layer of pain. D'Arco knew not to say anything else about her, but Ted needed to be pushed out of his shell. After about a split second of thought, D'Arco decided to just go on and mention it.  
  
"Ted, it's not the same case as with Jamie." D'Arco replied, "Besides, it's not as if you have any commitment with her."  
  
Before Ted could reply again, D'Arco continued his argument, "Anyway, you've known Jamie for what, nearly two years? And you haven't been able to tell her exactly how you feel about her. Look, you should get out more, you're young, you've got the chance to pretend to be a civilian without fighting too many orcs or Darklings, enjoy it while it lasts. For all you know you could die on a mission."  
  
"I guess you're right Marv." Ted replied, field stripping his own M-16, "Thanks."  
  
Staff Sergeant Eddie Kurth reported the sighting of the Darkling battle party to his company commander, Captain Ironsides. After he did so, he went and carried out some minor administrative chores while he watched the members of the task force come and go. Rangers, Fleet Special Forces, Gammas, and the four man Air Force detachment roamed about or sat on their cots.  
  
Specialists Ernst Hockle and Nick Stoty sat on their cots, cleaning their weapons after a day on the firing range. The Rangers spent a vast majority of their time either training, on guard duty, asleep or on down time. This deployment was a blast. For the most part, the men of the 140 man Ranger company were on the average, sixteen. And getting to hang out with the 50 man Gamma detachment, Charlie Squadron, was awesome. It was like getting an ongoing lesson in soldiering from the best in the business. Once they deployed with the Gammas, on their workup cycle, the young Rangers found that they were the best to work with. Guys like 'Grinch' Growler, Mark Lazio, Marv D'Arco, and Cass Garner were the best teachers, with Mark Lazio being most popular.  
  
Lazio taught Hockle how to fire his M-60 in short, effective bursts that would down an opponent in the first three rounds. 'Grinch' tended to be a bit of a loner, he was an extremely talented artist who was originally a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, but he started to lose the iceman façade after the Task Force deployed.  
  
Cass Garner was no doubt one of the best soldiers in the entire squadron, where Grinch was laid back, Cass' throttle was always stuck in high gear. He was always doing some sort of physical exercise and seemed to delight in new ways of physically beating himself up. He was a blond fellow with a flattop and was a walking atlas of male musculature. He worked out so much that even his fellow operators thought he was some kind of mutant strain.  
  
Then there were the two Navy EOD techs, Jay and Silent Bob who were clumsy with everything else but their diving gear and explosives. They were a little strange, but most of the guys like to laugh at them. Then the other four squids, Chief Brown, McDougal, 'Big Un', and Wenzl were also cool, despite all the Navy jokes that the Rangers and occasionally the Gamma operators, and the Air Force guys used to throw at them.  
  
The four Air Force men were Staff Sergeant 'Dr. Kay' Kennel and Senior Airman Wilder, two Pararescuemen; the two Combat Controllers were Master Sergeant Walton and Staff Sergeant McConnell. They got a lot of Air Force jokes cranked out by all the other units in the hanger as well.  
  
"Another profile flight, let's get cracking people!" Captain Ironsides shouted into the hanger.  
  
"Fuck." Stoty groaned and threw on his uniform blouse, bullet proof vest, Kevlar helmet, and picked up his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and ammunition. At first the men loved the profile flights, zipping along at the helicopter's maximum speed with the hotshot Night Stalker pilot performing an assortment of turns and varying traffic patterns in order to confuse enemy forces on the ground. They were so routine, however, that they started to get boring.  
  
The Rangers were usually tasked with this, with detachments of Gamma operators flying in as well. A CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) helicopter was ready to go at all times with the two parajumpers and a crack team of a dozen Rangers and Gamma assaulters trained to form a perimeter around the crash site so that the parajumpers could treat wounded aircrew in the wreckage without fear of enemy attacks.  
  
Ted picked up a Kevlar vest, M-16, and load bearing gear after throwing on his desert camouflage fatigue blouse. D'Arco motioned him to another Black Hawk that had an eight man Ranger chalk with four Gamma operators, including D'Arco inside it.  
  
The pilot and co-pilot of Black Hawk Super Seven One, Chief Warrant Officer "Abbott" Flanagan and "Costello" Cain, were both veteran Night Stalkers of 127th SOAR and nicknamed because of their behavior off duty was reminiscent of Abbott and Costello. The nineteen aircraft of the Task Force were airborne, with the Little Birds flying ahead of the Black Hawks for reconnaissance purposes.  
  
Half the task force flew through a dimensional gate created by a P-3 Orion electronic warfare aircraft and the other flew over Ibn Djarra. "That's nice beach down there." Kurth remarked.  
  
"How's the water?" Corporal de Vaca, Kurth's best friend, asked.  
  
"It's nice and warm." Kurth remarked.  
  
"Meaning it's loaded with sharks."  
  
Both Kurth and de Vaca turned and saw the Fleet Special Forces guy, McDougal, turn around and face them with a toothy grin.  
  
Up in front, Chief Warrant Officer "Abbott" received a transmission, "Super Seven One, this is Super Seven Five go to UHF secure. I've got some bad news."  
  
"Limo is a word Fulton, I don't wanna hear about it." Abbott replied.  
  
"It is not a word it's an abbreviation of a word." Fulton replied.  
  
"Limo is a word in common usage, that is the key phrase, in scrabble my friend." Abbott replied.  
  
"No! If it's not in the dictionary it doesn't count." Fulton replied.  
  
"It doesn't have to be in the dictionary!" Abbott replied.  
  
"It does have to be in the dictionary. Look, when we get back to base it's coming off the board." Fulton replied.  
  
"You touch my limo and I'll spank you Night Stalker. You hear?" Abbott replied.  
  
"Yeah promises." Fulton replied as he steered the helicopter into the dimensional gate.  
  
"Chief?" D'Arco said, "I see three technicals on the move."  
  
"Roger." Abbott replied, "Command, this is Super Seven One, we've got technicals on the move out of the city."  
  
"Acknowledged, Seven One, maintain current flight plan. We're dispatching a Little Bird to shadow them."  
  
"Roger command, Seven One out." Abbott replied.  
  
The profile flight ended after about a half hour in the air and the unit returned to stand down status. Ted looked at his watch and realized he had less than a few minutes to get himself ready for his brief for the surveillance operation at the Bayville Mall and Ibn Djarra, or 'the Jar' as the men called it, with another Gamma operator and Big Un.  
  
David Falk was already sitting in the small briefing area, waiting for General Grayson give his briefing. Falk was a dark haired fellow in his mid- twenties with a laid back cowboy attitude complete with a Texas accent. He was already wearing civilian clothing, as was Big Un.  
  
"Group! Atten-hut!" Bawled Captain Ironsides.  
  
All three men stood to attention. "Falk, go to your squadron commander for a more specific briefing for your area of operations after this. Intelligence just informed us that the Darklings under the warlord Harsk have been mobilizing their assorted militia bands in the area. Sightings of at least three Darkling battle parties have been reported today alone. We confirmed the presence of a covert insertion into the Bayville area, we need more information before we launch a mission." General Grayson said.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ted stood at the Food Court in the Bayville Mall. Jay and Silent Bob were with him. Several of the X-men and the Brotherhood were hanging around the mall as well, blissfully unaware of the game of cat and mouse that had been going on in Bayville for the past six weeks.  
  
Lance Alvers beamed when he saw Kitty Pryde standing a few feet away from one of those new guys that had come into Bayville High. He recognized the rather introspective loner as Ted McDougal standing by the Food Court.  
  
Kitty looked worried as Lance approached her, "Kitty, what's wrong?"  
  
"Lance, have you seen Tabitha or Kurt anywhere? They've been missing since last night." Kitty asked.  
  
"No, I haven't." Lance asked, "Come to think of it, Toad's been missing too."  
  
Ted was far enough away that he didn't look like he was eavesdropping but he overheard the conversation. "Command, this is Mike Zero One," Ted reported over a small two way radio, "We've got reports of mutants disappearing in Bayville."  
  
"This is General Grayson. McDougal, get some more intelligence on this but don't get spotted. Grayson out."  
  
"Roger sir." McDougal replied.  
  
"Hey Ted, I just saw some weirdo going around the mall blabbing about Armageddon on the roof." Jay said as he got back from the men's room.  
  
"Jay, Silent Bob, get to the roof and check for bombs." Ted replied, "I'll shadow Lance and Kitty."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Elsewhere Scott Summers stopped his car at a parking space in front of the Bayville Mall. He walked towards the mall when he saw Taryn in the parking lot. "Taryn, can we talk?" Scott asked as he caught up to her.  
  
Before either of them could say another word a black van sped right by them and several masked men leaped out of the vehicle, grabbed both Taryn and Scott and disappeared.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ted wondered where Taryn was when his watch read 10:30 and she wasn't anywhere near where she said she would be. He also saw Scott Summers' car from his vantage point, but what he hadn't seen was the van that had carried off Scott and Taryn.  
  
"This is Mike Zero One reporting another possible abduction, Scott Summers." Ted reported. During the report he lost track of Lance and Kitty.  
  
"This is General Grayson, McDougal pull your team out of there."  
  
"Roger sir." McDougal replied.  
  
"We've got trouble Ted." Silent Bob's voice came over the radio.  
  
"What is it?" Ted replied.  
  
"A Party Favor." Silent Bob replied, using EOD slang for an orcish explosive that combined a C-4 charge with several shrapnel pods.  
  
"Get rid of it!" Ted replied, trying to keep his voice from getting high.  
  
"Roger, we're on it." Silent Bob replied, "Shut up and leave us alone."  
  
Jay and Silent Bob had removed all of the anti-personnel shrapnel pods when the timer suddenly ran down to thirty seconds, taking away the ten minutes that the pair thought they had.  
  
"Oh shit!" Jay said, he tossed Silent Bob the bomb.  
  
"I don't want it! You take it!" Silent Bob shouted.  
  
"Hot potato! Hot potato!" Jay shouted and threw the bomb out of the mall skylight.  
  
The bomb landed right in Principal Kelly's car, right when he was walking out to see how the Bayville High bake sale was going. The bomb exploded, blasting the car into shards. Thankfully Principal Kelly was unharmed.  
  
"My car." He groaned, "I hate my life."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Scott, where are we?" Taryn asked. Ever since she had been forced into the back of the van, tied up and blindfolded, she couldn't tell where she was.  
  
"I don't know, Taryn, I don't know." Scott said.  
  
"Ow, Summers, even when you're tied up you make me miserable somehow."  
  
"Alvers, is that you?" Scott asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's me." Lance replied.  
  
"Why don't you shake this thing up and get us out of here?" Scott asked.  
  
"I can't use my powers, they've put some kind of weird necklace on us since we were captured." Lance replied.  
  
"Will you two quit fighting and figure a way out of this?" Kitty asked.  
  
Suddenly their blindfolds were pulled off and they could see they were in a ramshackle third world city in the middle of a desert. "I think we're not in Bayville anymore." Scott said.  
  
"No kidding." Lance replied sarcastically. "Do you think any of these ugly bastards know where we are?"  
  
Lance was rewarded with a rifle butt to the face for his comment from one of the masked men.  
  
The four prisoners were shoved inside a building, a large three story structure and locked in a cage where Tabitha and Kurt were also imprisoned with similar power dampening collars that had small explosives wired to them if the mutants tried to tamper with them.  
  
The orc guarding the prisoners knew that his dark lord had plans for these mutants and that their safekeeping from enemy infiltration was a top priority. The human task force outside of the city had been killing or capturing orcs and Darklings for nearly six weeks. Maybe they would be willing to negotiate for these mutants to restore the balance in Bayville.  
  
Little did the orc guard know that he thought wrong and that Task Force Romeo was already planning its assault. They only needed to know where the prisoners were held before they went to rescue them. 


	5. Gathering Force

Gathering Force  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
Ever since the abductions of six people from Bayville by the Darklings under warlord Harsk, the task force had moved from reconnaissance to offensive action. Profile flights and actual missions were being launched. The last two missions had captured two important lieutenants of warlord Harsk and another mission was being planned to capture or kill off more of his infrastructure.  
  
Ted McDougal sat at the wheel of one of nine wide bodied Humvees carrying a team of Gamma assaulters. Big Un was on the fifty caliber machinegun, Chief was in the second seat, manning the radio and Nate had his SAW poking out one of the windows.  
  
The world was green through the night vision goggles Ted wore and suddenly the signal for retrieval was sounded. The vehicle convoy returned to base with its latest catch. Mukle Mebe, Harsk's chief armaments minister, was just captured on this mission. The local militia hadn't even had a chance to pull on its pants and wake up.  
  
This was how most missions had been going; very rarely did the Darklings and orcs manage to put up serious resistance. General Grayson had varied the tactics that the taskforce used on missions. Sometimes they arrived on vehicles and left on helicopters, or arrived on helicopters or left on vehicles, or even arrived and left on either helicopters or vehicles to confuse the enemy.  
  
They hadn't yet located the missing kids from Bayville but they were sure hurting the warlord responsible for their abduction. The Intelligence agents were keeping a watch on the Bayville area, the task force had pulled out to Ibn Djarra to concentrate solely on the rescue mission.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The sound of vehicle engines and gunfire meant that the Rangers were back. Tteel Klaak, a Darkling militiaman, grabbed his AK-47 and ran outside only to see the Humvees driving off in a hurry leaving behind a cloud of dust. These Rangers were everything Darkling militia men secretly dreaded. They wore body armor and helmets and when they came in at night they blackened their faces to look fierce. In broad daylight not a single part of them looked human. The black vested soldiers that jumped from helicopters before the Rangers were even more terrifying. They could capture buildings in a matter of seconds and kidnap the occupants before the militia could have any idea what was happening.  
  
The prisoners in the hotel were safe, at least that was the consolation. The Warlord's orders had been explicit, to help the orcs keep these six teenage prisoners from escaping or from being rescued by the Rangers.  
  
"Scott Summers, we have not forgotten you!" came a voice over a loudspeaker from a helicopter.  
  
Every night for two weeks helicopters flew overhead and broadcast messages of hope to the prisoners. Tteel Klaak had heard another message the night before saying, "Kitty Pryde, we are coming for you."  
  
"When do you think they're coming for us?" Kitty whispered to Lance.  
  
"I don't know." Lance said, "I don't even know who they are, much less when they're coming."  
  
They spoke in quiet tones because their guard was not an orc. The orcs could care less of what their prisoners said, but these Darklings, who loved to be overbearing would often hit prisoners for talking. Kurt already had two teeth loosened from one of their rifle butts.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"That's right, we're coming in and kicking your ass." David Falk muttered as he sat silently at an outdoor cantina. For nearly three days he was snooping around enemy territory near the Dharran Market, the center of Warlord Harsk's territory.  
  
He had been assigned to search out Misulu, Harsk's major domo. He hadn't seen any time when the man was vulnerable during these past three days. They hadn't even noticed him, because David Falk was a master of disguise. This time he was dressed as a journalist riding a bicycle. He had camera equipment and a photographer's vest to go with his cargo pants and gray t- shirt to complete the image. His Oakley's covered his eyes fairly well, to make him even more of a gray man.  
  
It was midnight when he saw another technical drive up with another struggling prisoner. From this distance it looked like Jean Grey, there was some kind of weird collar around her neck that one of the Darklings near her said would explode if she tampered with it. He also saw Misulu move into a small house across the street from the cantina.  
  
Around nine thirty the next morning he saw Misulu walk with several other Darklings, most of the armed, into a convoy of three sports utility vehicles.  
  
"Leaving." He spoke into a small two way radio concealed on his person.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Two MH-6 Little Bird and two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters flew over the desert toward the road where a convoy of three SUVs was heading out.  
  
The driver pointed at the helicopters flying overhead, one of which flew in front of the convoy with two miniguns pointed right at it. "Sir." The driver said.  
  
"Keep driving." Misulu said, cupping a hand over his cell phone receiver. He removed his hand from the receiver and said clearly, "I'm going to be late."  
  
From one of the UH-60 Black Hawks three Gamma snipers sat in the back of the aircraft. Leroy Hoffman, a lean, level headed fellow of twenty six with short cropped black hair, aimed his M-14 sniper rifle at the middle jeep's engine and squeezed off a single shot.  
  
Marvin D'Arco and a third sniper, Mark Lazio, both carried telescope sighted CAR-15s. The other Black Hawk carried more Gamma assaulters. The Gamma operators surrounded the jeeps and forced out the occupants with no struggle.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ted McDougal hosed down the cargo humvee together with a quiet, introspective Gamma operator, Staff Sergeant Phillip Twofeathers. He was a full blooded Apache Indian who often wore a traditional leather wrist guard with hand made beads and carried a tomahawk on his belt.  
  
Another helicopter took off, the Loudmouth, as the men called it. It was used to broadcast more propaganda to the orcs and Darklings. "We're coming for you guys, just hang in there."  
  
Phil Twofeathers grinned in his mysterious way, a toothy little grin framed in a cinnabar face framed by longish black hair. "You got attached, didn't you."  
  
"Kinda." Ted replied as he hosed some more dust off the tires with a high pressure hose.  
  
"It happens." Phil Twofeathers replied. At twenty-eight, Phil Twofeathers had been in the Army almost all of his adolescence and adult life. He had that air of wisdom inherent to a native medicine man but was as fierce as the youngest brave of his tribe. He was from Bitterwater, a town on the border of the ever expanding menace originating from the east. He was calm and courageous under fire. Where Cass Garner was reckless, almost like a human berserker, Phil Twofeathers was level yet brave. Ted befriended him when the unit moved out of Bayville and into the Ibn Djarra airport.  
  
"Well, I befriended a few of the Bayville kids." Ted replied. Phil Twofeathers grinned knowingly, "Well one of them. Her name's Taryn, who's in two of my classes at Bayville High."  
  
"I see." Phil Twofeathers replied in his irritating yet reassuring all knowing Indian's grin.  
  
The pair stopped conversing for a moment as they saw another bunch of Gamma operators leading a group of eight prisoners to a barge as well as leading a ninth off for interrogation.  
  
"Another successful hit." McDougal observed.  
  
Leroy Hoffman, one of the Gamma operators that Ted tried to beat at a game of chess last week, waved Twofeathers over, "I've gotta go man, see you later."  
  
Phil Twofeathers matched action with deed and went of to the hangar to collect his gear.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A few moments later Ted saw a small Gamma team consisting of Leroy Hoffman, Cass Garner, Philip Twofeathers, and Mark Lazio running out to a waiting Black Hawk. Phil Twofeathers was carrying his own CAR-15 as well as another weapon.  
  
Aboard that Black Hawk as the Gamma operators climbed aboard the pilot said, "My name is Martin "Abbott" Flanagan, I'll be your pilot this afternoon. If you're currently in the Ibn Djarra frequent flyer program you'll be earning a hundred free credit hours today. Federal regulations have designated this a nonsmoking Black Hawk helicopter and airsickness bags are located in the lap of the person next to you."  
  
The helicopter took off over the desert off towards its rendezvous point. The soldiers at the Desert Dunes airfield were used to watching helicopters come and go all the time.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
As he stood on a sand dune David Falk ducked as the helicopter swooped over his head, landing on the beach in front of him. As soon as it touched down, David Falk picked up his bicycle and walked off to the helicopter. The other operators aboard helped him pull the bicycle and his camera bag inside.  
  
As he sat inside the helicopter David Falk said, "Nice man, very smooth."  
  
"Single shot through the engine block." Frank Tall said proudly.  
  
Leroy Hoffman grinned in acknowledgement. "That's a shame that was a nice jeep too." Falk replied, chambering a round into his CAR-15. The helicopter took off again as he spoke.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The firing range was a hub of activity. Almost daily the task force's various units practiced their marksmanship, went on several exercises, or on the five mile fun runs that the Rangers did practically every day.  
  
One of the Gamma operators, Grinch, had his 9mm Beretta out and started firing double taps (firing twice at a given target) at a human silhouette target down range. Two sets of holes started to appear in the target's head.  
  
A whistle blew at that moment and Staff Sergeant Kurth shouted, "Cease fire. Check your weapons."  
  
"Sergeant Kurth." Said Specialist John Halbred, "This is Private Blackstone."  
  
Halbred, the company clerk was leading a baby faced private, fresh out of Ranger school, to his platoon sergeant. "You reporting to me?" Kurth asked Blackstone.  
  
"Yes Sergeant." Blackstone replied.  
  
"No you're not, you're reporting to Lieutenant DiStephano, he should be around here somewhere." Kurth replied.  
  
"Can't I just leave him with you?" Halbred asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Kurth replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hey who's hungry?" Asked David Falk as he indicated a herd of gazelles and wild pigs running through the bush.  
  
Several of the Gamma Operators grinned knowingly.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Captain Ironsides walked through the hangar where several troops were clustered around several long tables where at least two large pigs were roasting over an open fire.  
  
"What is this sergeant, another tax payer funded Gamma safari." Ironsides asked, throughout the deployment the Gamma operators and Night Stalkers had been shooting up game animals in the bush and taking them back to base for cookouts.  
  
"Not if General Grayson's asking." Phillip Twofeathers replied, one of the Gamma team leaders.  
  
"No, I'm asking." Captain Ironsides replied.  
  
"Have a nice meal, sir." Phillip Twofeathers replied.  
  
Captain Ironsides stalked off after the Indian spoke. "Hey there's a line man." Said Private Blackstone to Sergeant Falk.  
  
"I know." Falk replied.  
  
"But this isn't the back of it." Blackstone replied.  
  
"I know." Falk replied.  
  
"Sergeant, what's going on here?" Ironsides asked.  
  
"Oh just some aerial target practice sir, I didn't wanna leave it behind." Falk replied. He was still in civilian clothes and carrying his weapon.  
  
"I'm talking about your weapon. Gamma or no Gamma that is a hot weapon. You know better than that. Safety should be on at all times when you're on base." Ironsides replied.  
  
"This is my safety sir." Falk replied, flexing his trigger finger.  
  
"Let it go sir, the guy hasn't eaten in a couple of days." Phillip Twofeathers replied.  
  
"You Gamma operators are a bunch of undisciplined cowboys. Let me tell you something sergeant, when we get to the five yard line you're gonna need my Rangers, so y'all better be able to be team players."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Nice, really improving." D'Arco said.  
  
"Thanks." Grinch replied, not looking up from his drawing of a knight battling a fierce beast.  
  
"I thought you finished that last week?" D'Arco said, "If I may make a suggestion, observation."  
  
"Shoot." Grinch replied.  
  
"It's a children's book, right? They are not supposed to scare the poor kids shitless." D'Arco replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Speak up. You say this is your safety, well this is my boot son, and it will fit up your ass with the proper amount of force." Said Sergeant Pyle, a machine gunner with a gift for humor.  
  
Right now the short little man built like a fireplug was wearing a helmet with a crudely improvised football face guard attached.  
  
"Is that a hot weapon?" Pyle asked a random Ranger. About half the Rangers in the company were laughing at Pyle's impersonation of the tough Texas cowboy that was their commanding officer.  
  
"Take those sunglasses of soldier, if Gamma wants to wear Oakley's that's there business, I don't wanna see them on you again, Hooah. Where are my running backs?"  
  
"Hooah!" shouted the smaller men in the company.  
  
"Where are my running backs?"  
  
"Hooah!" they responded again.  
  
"Hey, I didn't see you in church on Sunday. You got somethin' better to do? Not on Sunday you don't. I will make you believe, soldier, do you understand?" Pyle replied.  
  
When no one laughed he turned to see Captain Ironsides standing behind him, Pyle took of his helmet and Ironsides walked up to him. "Pretty funny, Hooah?"  
  
"Hooah." followed by a chorus of barely suppressed laughter.  
  
"Alright, carry on. I'd like a word Sergeant." Ironsides said, putting Pyle in a headlock. Pyle gave Ironsides the finger behind his back which caused even more laughter among the Rangers.  
  
"Tell me Pyle, you understand why we have a chain of command?" Ironsides asked.  
  
"Roger that, sir." Pyle replied.  
  
"Because if I see you undermine it again, you'll be cleaning latrines with your tongue until you can't taste the difference between shit and French fries. Are we clear?" Ironsides replied.  
  
"Hooah sir." Pyle replied. Ironsides let him go into a throng of laughter from the cluster of Rangers around him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
General Grayson sat at the command post, it looked like he was going to be sleeping in it again tonight. He was waiting for reports from his either his informants in the city or any of the observation birds that were flying round the clock surveillance missions.  
  
At around 0630 the next morning the call came in that he had been waiting for, Misulu had broken and gave his interrogator, Lieutenant DiStephano, the exact building where the X-men and Brotherhood members were being held. Now he had to wait for his other intelligence source to confirm the source before launching the mission.  
  
He already informed the commander of the Gamma Squadron, Colonel Hartford, to get his team together and start planning their assault on the target buildings.  
  
Already the spy was driving his car down the dusty streets of the city toward the Kaibar Market, where the captured mutants were being held.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
At 1530 (3:30 PM), the operation was a go. The hangar exploded into a hive of activity as the various units prepared for action.  
  
The Rangers, who had seen relatively light combat up to that point, watched as the significantly more battle tested Gamma unit readied itself for battle. Specialist Mike Shapiro started pouring water into a canteen, "You're not gonna need that dude, we're not out there long enough." Hockle said.  
  
Shapiro picked up his night vision goggles, "We'll be back by five dude, you're not gonna need that either." Stoty added.  
  
"Hey get a load of that, Mazola." said Corporal "Fish" Folk, "He's taping his blood type to his boots. That's bad luck."  
  
Fish was around seventeen, stocky, and carried a SAW into battle. Right now he was indicating Grinch, one of the Gammas, taping a piece of tape with his blood type written on it.  
  
"No," Mazola replied, he was a lanky fellow of Italian extraction with a Brooklyn accent, "That's smart. All Gammas do that."  
  
Mullins, another seventeen year old, sat with his arm in a cast as Mazola handed him a letter. "Uh uh, I ain't taking no death letter." Mullins said.  
  
"You promised you would pal." Mazola replied.  
  
"I'll see you in an hour." Mullins replied as the Rangers and Gamma operators boarded their helicopters and vehicles in their mission to rescue the kidnapped mutants. 


End file.
